ME/CFS and birthdays

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Good news to start with. I'm feeling better, much better. Better than I've been in three and a half years. I've made a huge leap in the last three weeks. I'll update my status page in the next few days. Now for my birthday:

July 7, 1986 - Between reactor, sponge cake and reality

I was born on July 7, 1986.

Back then, my parents didn't know that I would later write a blog - about life, illness, hope and occasionally also about birthdays.

1986 was a year that had it all:

• In Chernobyl, not only did the lights go out, but an entire reactor blew up.
• Maradona scored his legendary "Hand of God" goal - which still makes every Englishman sleep badly to this day.
• Falco sang "Jeanny" - and sparked more debate than many of today's politicians.
• And I was born - unspectacularly, by caesarean section.

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Five birthdays have already passed since the onset of my ME/CFS disease.

Here is a rather inglorious look back at my last days of honor:

• 2021 - My birthday marked the end of my best phase. I was really miserable. I cried when my 7-month-old daughter was brought to bed with a "Happy Birthday" sign around her neck from mummy's bed. That was all I could do that day - but this image remains.
  
• 2022 - I got a digital picture frames* as a gift. But I was only able to switch it on a year later - more than sad proof of how much the illness had slowed me down.
  
• 2023 - Gift: My first bird from the WildlifeGarden series: a hand-carved Blackbird* - as a loving substitute for my real bird friends outside. I could only look at them - but they always put a smile on my face. There are now four feathered wooden friends.
  
• 2024 - This year there was a iPad*! Great in theory - in practice I couldn't use it for weeks because I was too weak. But it slowly got better. Today I can write a bit with it and do short researches.
  
• 2025 - This year, my best birthday in a long time. For the first time since the illness, I felt well on my special day. I was able to have lunch and dinner with my daughter for the first time. A really great feeling. Presents? A few Magic cards (yippee!) - iPhone SE* and Apple Watch* (both refurbished). My old Galaxy S7 is now obsolete after almost eight years.

I don't know what next year will bring. But I do know that I can say today: I am alive. I love. And I write. Thank you for being here. And thank you, July 7 - you're not perfect, but you're mine.

Finally, a song that I haven't been able to get out of my head for a few days. It blew in to me through the open window at around 2:00 a.m. (possibly from the Schneckenhof). In fact, the first song I've heard in almost three and a half years. Have fun 😉 :

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